Josh Thomson has an eye on Donald Cerrone – and the UFC lightweight title

At first, it sounded like veteran fighter Josh Thomson was ready to retire from MMA.

“My days of trying to plead for notoriety are over,” he told a small group of reporters prior to UFC 160 this past Saturday at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. “I don’t care. I just want to fight Benson. If I get the title shot, I can end my career and be done. I want to end my career with my title shot, and just get ready for whatever happens.”

But in fact, the 34-year-old Thomson (20-5 MMA, 3-1 UFC) was just trying to express the feeling that he has nothing left to prove as a fighter. After knocking out Nate Diaz at UFC on FOX 7 in April, his career is surging forward. Yet his next move isn’t of great concern, the way he tells it.

Thomson chiefly is invested in getting a title he feels eluded him when the UFC shuttered its lightweight division in 2004.

“I’m not focused on anybody else except for Benson,” he said.

It was in 2004 that “The Punk” found himself on the wrong end of a highlight-reel loss to Yves Edwards. With no work to be found in the octagon, he looked elsewhere, fought overseas, and eventually found a home in a small-but-growing MMA promotion called Strikeforce. He would win the promotion’s lightweight title in 2008, lose it to Gilbert Melendez, and fight valiantly, albeit unsuccessfully, to regain it in a rubber match.

By the time Strikeforce closed up shop in January, Thomson still was considered one of the world’s top lightweights. But he lacked the ultimate validation of his talent: a UFC belt.

Now, another opportunity is at hand. When Melendez failed to wrest the belt from Benson Henderson, and Thomson knocked out Diaz at UFC on FOX 7, he leapfrogged others in the rankings and immediately entered the conversation for a title shot.

“I’m not thinking about retirement,” Thomson said. “I feel like I didn’t get my title shot when I could have. It’s just that one thing that has eluded me, so I want that. I’m hungry for it. I stamp my name on the Nate Diaz fight, and I feel like I’m maybe one fight away, or maybe the next fight.”

He then added, “Who knows?”

Uncertainty is no stranger, after all. Thomson spent countless months on the sidelines with injuries in Strikeforce and waited like everyone else as the promotion was slowly drained of resources before being put to pasture. At this point, waiting for a title shot is just one more hurdle on a long track to gold.

Two weeks ago, he watched the Henderson vs. Melendez fight for the first time, and though he wanted his old foe to win, he thought Henderson did enough to earn a decision.

He also thought he’d be the perfect guy to fight the champ next.

“I think we match up pretty damned well,” Thomson said. “If we ever fight, it’s going to be a good fight. I think you could see something like the [Gilbert Melendez trilogy]. Stylistically, we put on a good show.”

Although Henderson’s reign lately has been as notable for its critics as supporters, with several fighters and fans questioning his win over Melendez at UFC on FOX 7, Thomson defended the champ’s performance.

“You can’t really expect him to come out there and dominate everyone,” he said. “The rest of us are really good. With our weight class, we’ve got a stacked division. You’re just one fight away from being a footnote. It’s sad, but true. He’s not going to win every fight convincingly.”

The world will see whether Henderson can break a string of close decisions when he undertakes his next challenge, a title defense against T.J. Grant that’s expected to take place later this year.

Hours after Thomson gave his interview, Donald Cerrone outpointed K.J. Noons on UFC 160’s main-card. UFC President Dana White said he liked the idea of a fight between the two, and Cerrone (20-5 MMA, 7-2 UFC) was game.

Beforehand, Thomson told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) he assumed he’d be fighting “Cowboy” next if victorious over Noons, whom he dispatched more than a year ago.

He’ll watching when Henderson takes on Grant, though. Maybe then, he’ll learn more from that than he did from watching the champ fight Melendez.

“There’s really nothing I can take away,” he said. “I think we’re well-rounded at everything. We’re not great at anything. We’re good at all of them, and it makes for great fights.”

For more on the UFC’s upcoming schedule, stay tuned to the UFC Rumors section of the site.

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